Patricia Van Pelt Watkins

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT PATRICIA VAN PELT WATKINS - PAGE 2

In case of emergency When I was teaching, I used to ask my students what they would do if they needed emergency surgery. Would they want the nicest doctor? The fastest? The best? I always received some real eye-opening answers to that one. So, in the same vein, since the city of Chicago is sick, I've evaluated the doctors who say they are the ones to operate. Rahm Emanuel: Smart. Experienced in handling a crisis. Proven track record. Tough and unflinching. All business.

The draw of a mayoral ballot that didn’t have a Daley on it wasn’t as great as some election forecasters had expected. Early reports on today’s election indicate voter turnout will be well below the 50 percent predicted, possibly as low as 40 percent. With polls set to close at 7 p.m., Langdon Neal, chairman of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, said the low figures have been consistent across the city and no parts of the city showed significantly higher voter participation than others.

The two-decade run of Richard Daley's administration has kept federal prosecutors busy, so a critical challenge for his replacement will be hitting the reset button on a political culture with a long and not too pretty history of public officials succumbing to the temptations of office. All six of the candidates vying to replace the retiring Daley have sought to cloak themselves in the mantle of a reformer, sometimes outlining detailed proposals for change and sometimes dealing more in platitudes.

The Tribune begins endorsements today in contested primary races for the Illinois Senate. The election is March 20. 1st District: Public interest lawyer Adolfo Mondragon took on entrenched Democratic organization water carrier Sen. Antonio "Tony" Munoz in 2010 and collected nearly a third of the vote. So nobody should be surprised that Mondragon found his home in a different district when power brokers finished drawing the new maps. By law, Mondragon can run again in the 1 s t District, though he'll have to move inside the new boundaries if elected.

By John Chase and Rick Pearson, Tribune reporters and Tribune staff reporter | February 23, 2011

Rahm Emanuel, a top adviser to two U.S. presidents who returned to Chicago just months ago, swept into the mayor's office Tuesday, inheriting a city reeling from recession and promising to reshape City Hall. He achieved what was once considered almost unthinkable, collecting a majority of support against five opponents in the first Chicago election without a sitting mayor on the ballot since 1947. In a city with its share of racial divisions, Emanuel appealed to voters across those lines.

An administrator with the Illinois secretary of state's office was picked Thursday to fill an open state House seat on the West Side. Democratic leaders chose Derrick Smith to fill the spot vacated by Annazette Collins, who was appointed to the state Senate this month following the abrupt resignation of Sen. Rickey Hendon. Smith said he may not be well-known, but has worked on community issues in the district for the last 30 years and understands the problems facing those he now represents.

Longtime West Side Rep. Annazette Collins will replace Rickey Hendon in the Illinois Senate following heated closed-door deliberations by Democratic officials Monday. Collins was one of a dozen candidates seeking to succeed the often-controversial Hendon, who abruptly resigned last month. Others vying for the Senate spot include failed governor candidate Scott Lee Cohen, former mayoral candidate Patricia Van Pelt-Watkins and AmySue Mertens, who lost to Hendon in 2008. Victory did not come easily.

Six candidates will be on the Feb. 22 mayoral ballot — down from a field of 20 who filed for the city's top job in November. Some one-time candidates left voluntarily, such as U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and state Sen. James Meeks. Others had their candidacies challenged and were removed from the ballot by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, including three who were knocked off Tuesday. The remaining candidates on the ballot are (in order): Rahm Emanuel, Miguel del Valle, Carol Moseley Braun, Gery Chico, Patricia Van Pelt Watkins and William Walls.

Chicagoans will vote for mayor Feb. 22, and all 50 City Council seats will be up for election. Voters can start casting ballots beginning Monday. Here's what you need to know about early voting: When: Early voting begins Monday and runs through Feb. 17. Where: During early voting, you can vote at any one of the 51 sites that will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For a list of sites, go to chicagoelections.com or call 312-269-7900. What do I need?

State police are looking into allegations that nominating petitions for five political candidates, including four Chicago mayoral contenders, were fraudulently notarized, a spokeswoman for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said Friday. Spokeswoman Elizabeth Kaufman said the office requested the investigation into whether someone falsely represented themselves as Maricela Rodriguez and Alex Caplan, who are legitimate notaries. Records show Rodriguez and Caplan are listed as notarizing some pages of petitions for four mayoral candidates: state Sen. James T. Meeks, former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, community activist Patricia Van Pelt Watkins and businessman Rob Halpin, who is renting mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel's home.